Labour dept struggles to find SHGs for 69 tea garden crèches in North Bengal

Despite earlier calls, the state Labour department is still struggling to find self-help groups (SHGs) to operate 69 newly built crèches in tea gardens across North Bengal.

- RAJDEEP MONDAL

JALPAIGURI: A second round of applications has now been invited in a prescribed format to speed up the process.

A total of 76 crèches were constructed across Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, and Uttar Dinajpur districts to provide child care support to tea garden workers. Of these, only a few—such as those in Dalmore, Ramjhora, Ethelbari, Madhu, Tulshipara and Bijaynagar tea estates in Alipurduar—have become operational under SHG management. The remaining 69 are ready but lying idle.